


Should Have Played High Stakes

by Cleopatra (empressofthelight)



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series
Genre: Birthday Party, Body Shots, Drinking, Duke Is Cheating, He Cheats, High Stakes Poker, M/M, Never Challenge Kaiba To Strip Poker, No He'd Never, Sexual Tension, Strip Poker, Yuugi Wants a Divorce
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-15 05:16:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7209287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empressofthelight/pseuds/Cleopatra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joey shows up late to Yugi's 21st to find Kaiba, Duke and Yugi playing poker. He wants to play but has no money to bet with. What else is valuable that he can bet with? Duke has an idea. Duke has shitty ideas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Should Have Played High Stakes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [blessing332](https://archiveofourown.org/users/blessing332/gifts).



> This is for the wonderful Blessing332 who requested a puppyshipping YGOTAS. I'm now officially hooked. Thanks for that. Yuugi is amazing. Where has he been all my life? I hope I did the characters justice and I hope Blessing enjoys this little game of strip poker as much as I enjoyed writing it and 'researching' it. Thank you for the opportunity!

Joey ran as fast as his sore legs would carry him. Pulling that double shift at work really took it’s toll on him but he wasn’t going to miss Yugi’s 21st birthday party for the world. He was already an hour or two late but at least he got to shower and change before he left the house. His lungs were on fire,-man was he out of shape. He felt a wave of relief when the game shop came into view as he rounded the corner...but so did Kaiba’s limo. Why the hell was that guy here? Didn’t he have other people to shove his wealth in their faces? Apparently not. The idea that Yugi might have invited the jerk made Joey shiver. 

Not wanting to look like an idiot, Joey slowed down to walk past Roland. “Hey! I don’t suppose your boss said he’d be leavin’ soon?”

Roland smirked, still wearing sunglasses at night. “No, Mr. Wheeler. As a matter of fact, I believe he’s extended his original plan to stay longer.”

“That’s...great.” Joey muttered, forcing a smile through gritted teeth.

Roland’s laughter died out behind Joey as he made his way to the game shop door. It was really loud in there, but he could still hear Tea’s obnoxious laughter. The door was unlocked, thank god, cause no one would be able to hear him otherwise. So he opened it and made his way inside to the even louder music. He blinked a few times, walking towards the living room behind the shop. Joey was surprised to see how many people there were: dancing, talking and...what the hell was Tea doing? “Hahaha! That tickles.”

Joey’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. Tea laid on a table in the middle of the room while Mai did a body shot off of her. Tristan, Serenity and Malik all watched and shouted encouragements. “Woooah! Man that’s hot.”

“Serenity, what are you doin’?!” Joey shouted, gaining all of their attention.

“Oh hey, Joey,” Tristan laughed, rubbing the back of his neck and smiling innocently. “It’s about time you got here, man.”

“Yeah yeah yeah, where’s Yug?” He was way too sober for this.

“The birthday boy is doing what he does best.” Mai winked at him before gesturing towards the hallway.

That’s probably where Kaiba was too...dammit. Serenity circled around their group of friends and handed him a red cup filled with some kind of drink. “If you’re going back there, down this.”

Joey brought the cup to his nose and sniffed. It was some kind of fruity alcoholic drink. “Hey, ya better not be drinkin’, Serenity. I-”

Serenity waved him off and walked away only to be replaced by Tea. “Tell him to get out here and do a birthday shot with us.” She wobbled a little before Mai caught her arm and swept her away, giggling. 

He was later to this party than he thought. Almost jumping out of his skin when Tristan plopped his arm around his shoulders, Joey growled. “Keep your damn hands off ‘o her.”

“Woah now. Ha ha ha. I’m going with you so Kaiba doesn’t kill you...I mean so Yugi comes out and takes that shot...yeah...shot.” Tristan gave an awkward laugh and yanked Joey down the hall. 

He didn’t get a chance to say anything more. Tristan dragged him into a room on the left that Joey hadn’t been in before. It looked like a storage room for the shop but had a table and chairs in the center. Kaiba, Duke and Yugi all sat at the square folding table with the chair closest to the door open, playing...what the hell were they playing? That wasn’t Duel Monsters. Are there any other card games besides Duel Monsters? 

“Look what the trash dragged in…” Kaiba muttered under his breath, giving Joey a sharp glare from across the table before returning his gaze to his hand.

“Oh Joey you made it!” Joey glared at Yugi as he picked up the two cards that Duke had dealt him. “Dammit...I fold.” Yugi sighed and threw the cards down on the table with an amused huff.

Joey started to say happy birthday when he realized Yugi didn’t even look up and Tristan had blocked any peripheral vision he might have claimed. “Hey! How did you know it was me?”

Yugi glanced up at Duke who raised a brow at him as well. “I...uh...It’s my birthday, Joey. Be nice to me.”

“Yeah yeah...Happy birthday Yug…Wait...did I hear ya right? Ya folded?”  Joey crossed the room and sat in the open chair, setting his drink to his right next to Yugi.  “So that means ya lost right?”

“Shhhh don’t tell Yami. He drank too much and passed out a half hour ago.” Yugi winked and giggled at him. “He’s going to be so mad.”

Joey raised a confused brow at Yugi’s hysterical laughter. He was really late to this party. “Well yeah, you lost the two thousand dollars he won up until then.” Duke chuckled and took a drink of the beer he had on the table. “I’m actually surprised you are still playing, Kaiba.”

“I’m not a lightweight.” He muttered, rearranging his cards and not really paying any attention to the conversation around him.

If Joey didn’t know any better, he’d swear Kaiba was drunk. His cheeks were flushed and his breathing was...calm, but Joey refused to keep his eyes on Kaiba longer than he had to. Glancing down at the table, he saw the stacks of cash and chips.  More money than he’d ever seen in his entire life. They were playing for a lot of money. “Hold on...you lost two thousand dollars in the last hand?!”

“It’s poker Joey. You bet with money.” Duke grinned and rested his head on his fist. “High stakes poker, actually.”

“How are you playing Yug?”

“I win a lot of money for tournaments…” Yugi mumbled with a sheepsh grin. “I don’t really have much to spend it on…”

“Just how much is on this table?”

Duke muttered something under his breath before looking up at the ceiling. “About 100 grand...give or take.”

Kaiba then glanced over to Duke. “I call.”

“Well considering you’re the last player I should hope so.” Duke smirked at Kaiba and laid out his hand.

Kaiba did the same, showing he had a full house, Duke had a pair of aces. Yugi threw his head back. “Fuck both of you. This is the second time you’ve had that hand Kaiba...are you cheating?” 

Joey held his breath expecting Kaiba to start screaming but instead, he smirked at Yugi like a guilty child. “It’s not my fault that Duke forgot to shuffle.”

“I did so shuffle...oh shit...no I didn’t.” Duke gathered all of the cards while laughing, his cheeks a little pink from embarrassment. “Obviously I shouldn’t deal anymore. Your turn Yugi?”

Yugi nodded his head (still giggling) and took the deck of cards from Duke. When he did that, Joey saw Duke look up past him. For a moment, he’d forgotten that there was anyone behind him until he realized Duke was looking at Tristan. Joey didn’t want to linger on staring at Duke’s face any more than Kaiba’s but he saw enough with the lecherous smirk to know why Tristan took him back here. Yugi shuffled the cards, pulling Joey’s attention towards him and inadvertently the untouched drink Serenity gave him. Now was the perfect time to catch up. He reached for the drink and brought it to his lips when he heard Kaiba huff. “What?”

“The ingrate can’t play.” Kaiba scoffed at Yugi. “He can’t afford the bet.”

“Oh...I’m sorry Joey...I wasn’t paying attention.” Yugi smiled and reached to take the cards back when Joey stopped him.

“I just got paid today, I can play.” He insisted.

Yugi frowned. “Joey. Don’t spend your money on this. You-”

“We don’t want your pennies, Wheeler. Go get drunk with everyone else.” Kaiba pointed towards the door, a vicious smirk on his face. “Go. The adults are playing a serious game.”

Joey clenched his fists and grit his teeth together. He was going to fucking kill him. Yugi’s expression changed to worry but Duke didn’t even flinch. “Kaiba, I’ll just give him some of my money.” Yugi offered.

“You don’t have enough anymore, Remember?” Duke purred.

“I…” Yugi looked down at his chips, his eyes flickering over them in a calculating gaze before his shoulders slumped. “Yeah...this would be my last game too.”

“Why don’t I make this easier for all of you.” Kaiba muttered, standing up from the table and gathering his things. “You all stay here and play penny poker with your furry and I’ll go home to prepare my gloating speech to you when you’re sober about losing to me.”

Yugi smiled up at Kaiba, narrowing his eyes almost playfully. “I swear, if you tell Yami I lost to you I will fucking kill you.”

Kaiba smirked at him. “You better hope I black out then.”

“We could play for something besides money.” Duke suggested, looking up at Kaiba but refusing to lift his head from his hand.

“None of you have Duel Monsters cards I want besides Yugi and he won’t offer those up...I tried.”

“Ha! Nah, I mean this.” Duke reached up to his shirt and tugged on it.

Oh god...he’s not meaning that...he can’t be meaning that. Nothing to worry about though, Kaiba would never go for-. “You want to play strip poker?” Yugi breathed with a little more excitement than Joey was sure he meant to.

“I only play high stakes poker, Devlin, and since you are all broke. I’ll take my leave.”

“Chicken shit.” Joey heard himself say.

“Excuse me?”

“Ya heard me, Koiba.”

Kaiba’s lip twitched and his frown turned into a scowl. “My name’s not ‘Koiba’, it’s Kaiba. You haven’t had a damn thing to drink and everyone here can speak more clearly than you can.”

“Fuck you. You’re still a chicken shit.” Joey glared at him, losing his rationality in the heat of a fight with Kaiba...every...damn...time.

“I’m not exactly eager to see any of you naked, Wheeler.”

“What was that?” Joey mockingly put his hand to his ear. “Did I hear you’re afraid ta lose? Losin’ and bein’ humiliated too much for ‘The Seto Koiba’?”

“I swear to god if you call me that one more time…” Kaiba growled, slamming his briefcase closed before Yugi grabbed his arm.   


“If you don’t want to play, Kaiba, It’s okay. Joey’s just messing with you.” Yugi soothed.

Kaiba’s piercing, frigid blue eyes were narrowed on Joey and it didn’t take long for him to make a decision. “I don’t have anything to worry about.” Kaiba’s glare shifted to Yugi who let go of his arm almost instantly. “Have any of you played this game before?”

Duke finally perked up, lifting his head from his hand and smirking. “I have. All you have to do is keep your clothes on and everything counts separate so I hope you all brought lots of layers of clothes.” He gathered the cards again and handed them to Yugi to reshuffle. “And this is an all or nothing game. The last one with any article of clothing on wins. You have to play until you have nothing to play with. Deal?”

Duke turned to Joey, as if he would argue about that first. He wasn’t going to, obviously (his pride was on the line here), but he really really wanted to. “Deal.”

Yugi beamed, sitting up straighter. “Deal. I always wear a fuck ton of clothes. This is going to be great.”

Kaiba just nodded his head and sat back down, setting his briefcase by his feet. “Hurry up and deal, I have places I have to be in the morning.”

The first hand Duke lost his vest, Yuugi lost his belt, and Joey lost his shirt. Shit...he didn’t think to layer up before he left the apartment. Yugi had like a billion different bracelets, belts and lord knows what on. Yugi glanced over to him with an encouraging smile, but Joey knew he was sunk. The next seven hand’s he’d only won one of them. Kaiba won the rest. Yugi was throwing away the wrong cards and asking for more than he had in his hand, then giggling at himself when they called him out on it. Joey was pretty sure Duke was losing intentionally. This wasn’t really about Duke and Yugi, though. It was about Kaiba trying his damnedest to beat Joey for whatever reason. Prove that he was better than Joey, prove that he was entitled to something. He just got done saying he didn’t want to see Joey naked and yet here the rich bastard was, winning almost every hand. 

After the seven losses, Joey was down to boxers, Duke was naked and grinning like a Cheshire cat, and Yugi was shirtless. Kaiba sat there without that ridiculous jacket, smirking and waiting. Waiting for Joey to lose. Looking down at his hand, Joey sighed. Fuck his life. He was going to lose. Shakily he started to lower his hand to the table when, Mai burst through the door. “Birthday boy! Come on, you can play games with these losers later. It’s time to mingle with your guests.” She ran into the room and yanked Yugi up from his chair.

Yugi laughed and attempted to grab his shirt from the floor but Mai had him in a deadlock while she looked around the room. When she turned her attention to Joey and Duke she blinked, frowned, then smirked. “Oh no. You can’t put your shirt back on kid. You have to honor the rules. Hurry up Duke.”

Duke pushed his chair back and stood up buck naked. Joey covered his eyes and leaned forward to place his elbows on the table. “Really man?”

“What? Don’t like what you see?” Duke smirked and followed after Mai (and Tristan he assumed) leaving Joey with Kaiba.

When Joey heard the door shut he expected to hear clothing rustling and a briefcase being picked up from the ground by Kaiba’s feet. He heard nothing. No rustling, no clinking, no smart ass comments. Was Kaiba still in the room? Taking a chance, he moved his hands enough to look up at Kaiba. The bastard still sat in the chair across from him, with his elbows on the table and his lips pressed against his folded hands. His gaze didn’t feel frigid anymore.  The heat in those eyes petrified him. Despite being, for all technical purposes, naked Joey was burning up. “It’s your move, Wheeler.”

“I have three kings.” Joey muttered, laying the cards on the table. 

Kaiba stared at them with zero reaction before leaning back in the chair. He flipped his cards face up on the table as well. How the hell did he manage a royal flush? “You lose Joey. Like I said you would.”

Now he really wished he’d listened to his sister. He should have downed the still untouched drink sitting to his right. He should have went into the kitchen and chugged the whole fucking alcohol supply before walking into this. He should be pissed. Why wasn’t he pissed? “Guess that means you HAVE to see my pale ass. Sucks to be you.” 

Joey pushed the chair out from the table. His nerves made his hands shake and a lump to form in his throat while he stood, but he wasn’t going back on his word. Staring intently at the ground, he slid down his boxers with one defiant movement before sitting back down to glare at...an empty chair? He started to turn around when he felt a hand on the back of his head, gripping his hair painfully tight. He gasped, reaching up and looking at the person who grabbed him. There stood none other than Seto Kaiba, staring down at him with fiery blue eyes and a more than pleased smirk. “Kaiba!” 

“It took me stripping you down for you to say my name correctly? I’ll have to remember that.” Kaiba husked, leaning down to press his lips against his.

Joey wasn’t sure what was going on, but he didn’t want Kaiba to stop. Part of him was waiting for the flash of a camera or someone to jump out yelling surprise or a banana floating across the room or something. But that wasn’t what happened at all. Kaiba’s lips were soft and he tasted like whiskey and cola. His breath felt warm against Joey’s cheek and he smelled like faded cologne and Kaiba’s own musk. It was comforting, alluring and frustrating. This was Kaiba. 

He tugged on Joey’s hair making him tilt his head further back so that he could deepen the kiss. When Kaiba’s tongue ran over his, he had to bite back a moan. Joey’s bare skin, flushed and scorching, made him painfully aware of everything. From the sticking plastic folding chair to the cool storage room air and to Kaiba’s warm, downy long sleeve shirt. When Kaiba tenderly placed his hand on Joey’s naked chest, he shuddered. That seemed to encourage Kaiba instead of deter him. Joey panted in anticipation as Kaiba’s hand caressed down his chest and abdomen to finally grip his exposed erection. Placing his own hand over Kaiba’s, Joey moaned into the kiss. He wanted Kaiba to keep going and he was worried he’d leave, but Kaiba’s smirk against his lips proved he had no intention of stopping. 

Then the doorknob rattled. “Joey, are you still in here?”

Kaiba let go of him and backed away so fast that Joey couldn’t prove he was there in the first place. The door opened behind him, but he refused to turn around to face Yugi. Kaiba strode up to the doorway. “Happy birthday Yugi.” he stated casually before walking away.

“Thank you for coming, Kaiba!” Yugi giggled and walked into the room. “Hurry up and get dressed Joey...are you okay?”

“Yep...I’m great.” Joey muttered, reaching for his clothes. “I’ll be out there in a sec Yug.”

“Sure thing.” 

The door closed behind Yugi but Joey didn’t move. Now he had a problem. He should never have picked up that shift at work. He was way too late to this party. Peeling himself off of the plastic folding chair, Joey grabbed his drink from the table. He downed the whole thing before getting dressed, hoping the cool storage room air would help with his...problem. Nope. It was too late for that. He finished dressing and decided to get over it until he got home. Stomping over to the door he shoved it open to find Yugi standing there grinning at him. He didn’t say anything, instead he handed Joey his cell phone. There on the screen was a message from Kaiba:

_ ‘If Joey still hasn’t figured out how superior I am in every way, tell him to meet me at my mansion. We’ll settle this once and for all.’ _

“Yugi I-”

“Good luck Joey.” Yugi snickered and Joey realized Yami had woken up. “You’re really going to need it if he plans to duel you.” He turned around and started walking down the hall, still talking. “No you can’t take over. You lost. Further proving that you are better at being cute than playing games…. I’m not controlling you don’t be ridiculous. We are soul mates inhabiting the same body at the same time. Nothing is more romantic or more equal….No you can’t have a divorce. ”

Joey shook his head and looked down at Yugi’s cell phone. He should’ve been thinking of all the times Kaiba was an asshole to him, how many times he’d said he hated him, and all of the other awful things he’d said in the past. But all he could think about was Kaiba’s tongue slipping into his mouth and his hand running down his chest and gripping his…

“Fine, asshole...you win.”

  
  
  



End file.
